What the agent handles
- Books appointments and drop-offs
- Lists slips and receipts to bring
- Calls when returns are ready
- Answers pricing questions
- Books amendments and reviews
Legal, finance and professional
AI receptionist for tax preparation
Books personal tax appointments and drop-offs during the spring rush, explains which slips to bring, and calls back when a return is ready to sign.
CallerI need my taxes done before the deadline, are you still taking people?
CallerCan I just drop off my stuff and pick it up later, or do I have to sit with someone?
CallerI got a reassessment letter and it says I owe money. Is that something you deal with?
Where calls go
Front deskTax preparersReview and filingSenior preparer
Warm transfer: When a caller is dealing with a reassessment or review letter, the agent warm-transfers to a senior preparer to go over what's needed.
What it books
Tax appointments and drop-off times
Why tax preparers miss calls, and what an AI receptionist changes
A tax preparation office does most of a year's business in about ten weeks. From late February to the April 30 deadline, the waiting area is full, preparers key slips one return after another, and the phone rings with the same questions all day: are you still taking people, how much is it, can I just drop it off. In the last two weeks of April the calls pile up, and a customer who hears a busy signal walks into the chain office in the plaza next door.
A RealVoice AI receptionist takes over the phone answering for your tax office. It books sit-down appointments and drop-offs into the times you set, tells each caller which slips and receipts to bring (T4s, T5s, T2202 tuition slips, RRSP receipts, medical and childcare receipts, last year's notice of assessment), and quotes your prices for a single return, a couple, a student or a self-employed return from the list you give it. Seniors who want to sit with someone and students who just want to drop off are both booked the way they prefer.
It doesn't tell anyone what they'll get back, whether a credit applies, or what a reassessment means. Callers holding a review or reassessment letter are warm-transferred to a senior preparer, or booked with one when nobody's free. When someone asks whether their return is ready to sign, it checks: as part of setup, the team connects it to your tax software, so it can say the return is ready and book a signing time, or that it's still with the preparer.
Example call, start to finish
- CallerHi, are you still taking new people? I've never filed in Canada before. I moved here in June.
- AI receptionistWe are, and welcome. For a first Canadian return our preparers like to sit with you for about an hour. I have Thursday at 6 p.m. or Saturday at 11. Which is better?
- CallerSaturday. What do I need to bring?
- AI receptionistYour T4 from your employer here, your SIN, the date you arrived in Canada, and anything you earned before you moved. I'll text you the full list your preparer uses.
- CallerOkay. My wife came with me but she doesn't work. Does she need to come too?
- AI receptionistWhether she should file is something the preparer will go over with you, and both of you can be seen in the same appointment. I'll book you as a couple so there's time. She should bring her own ID and arrival date.
- CallerPerfect.
- AI receptionistYou're booked Saturday at 11 with Lucie, as a couple. The confirmation text has the address, the checklist and the price for two returns.
After the call: Lucie sees a Saturday booking marked first Canadian return, couple, arrived in June. The caller has the checklist and the price in writing, and the summary and recording are in the RealVoice portal if the front desk needs them.
How it fits your day
- Opening week
- Early filers who want their refund quickly call the day you open in February. Past customers get a reminder text that you're open for the season, and the agent fills the first weeks of the schedule while staff are still setting up.
- The April crush
- When calls stack up in the last two weeks, many are answered at once, and every caller leaves with a time, a drop-off slot or a checklist.
- Ready to sign
- Once a return is marked ready in your tax software, the customer gets a text to come in and sign, and anyone who calls to ask hears the status straight away. Nobody at the front digs through folders mid-appointment.
- Summer letters
- After the season, notices of assessment, reassessments and review letters bring a second wave. Those callers reach a senior preparer or are booked with one.
Your software
Today it books appointments and drop-off times into the RealVoice schedule in the portal, saves every call summary and recording there, texts customers a confirmation with the slips to bring, and texts them again when their return is ready to sign. If your office runs TaxCycle, ProFile, Cantax or DT Max, the team can set up a connection to it; custom integrations are quoted separately.
What a missed call costs
Picture a busy April evening. Twelve people call while your two preparers are with customers, and six of them hang up before anyone answers. If each of those is a household with a couple of returns, and half of them book with the office down the street, that's three households a night who may file there for years to come. Multiply by the nights in your season, then check it against your real prices in the missed-call calculator on our homepage.
Questions tax preparers ask
Will it tell callers how much they'll get back?
No. It never estimates a refund or a balance owing and doesn't say whether a credit applies. It books them in and tells them what to bring so the preparer can work it out.
Can it quote our prices?
Yes, from the price list you give it: single returns, couples, students, seniors, self-employed and amended returns. Anything unusual, like several years of unfiled returns, becomes a note for a preparer to quote.
Can customers drop off instead of sitting down?
Yes, if you offer it. The agent books a drop-off time, tells them what to put in the envelope and explains your pickup and signing process.
What does it do with a reassessment letter?
It treats it as more than a booking. It asks for the date on the letter and what it's asking for, then warm-transfers to a senior preparer or books the first time one is free.
Can it help callers who prefer another language?
Yes. Newcomers often want to talk about their return in their own language. The agent speaks English, French and many others, and asks before switching.
Hear it as your own tax preparation office's front desk
Request a free demo call and the agent will phone you, set up as a business like yours.